Look guys, even if you hate me - no, ESPECIALLY if you hate me - please email Red Bull and tell them you don't appreciate videos of flying ANY sort of motorized craft 50' over a herd of endangered wild elephants in a national park, forcing them to run in terror.

Do it for the elephants, and for all wildlife. Here again is the Red Bull email:

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I have no idea what the rules are regarding overflying wildlife in any of the countries in Africa. I also have no idea whether those elephants were in a national park. Since you apparently have more information than we do, please continue to inform us.

(Technically, African elephants are "vulnerable", not "endangered", which is a lower level of concern. Various measures are taken to keep them away from populated areas, where things don't go well for the elephants or the populace. For all I know, this PPG could have been part of an authorized effort to herd the elephants back to the preserve.)

(Looking at the video again, the caption suggest that this was likely Botswana. A little searching shows that the there are private wildlife preserves there, near the national parks. Although the national parks appear to have rules about not harassing wildlife and about keeping quiet, the private safari parks have different rules. But the main question is, okay, so you've jumped to conclusions based on a few seconds of elephant footage, but where is your outrage over the trike pilot who was clearly stampeding elk for miles?)

Paraglider Collapse wrote:Look guys, even if you hate me - no, ESPECIALLY if you hate me - please email Red Bull and tell them you don't appreciate videos of flying ANY sort of motorized craft 50' over a herd of endangered wild elephants in a national park, forcing them to run in terror.

Do it for the elephants, and for all wildlife. Here again is the Red Bull email:

Paraglider Collapse wrote:
In case you forgot, PG's are now included in the USHPA. I'm sick of them too, but YOUR national organization has foisted them on us.

Yeah....over twenty years ago. After a couple of decades, don't you think it might be time to drop the lance and sword, and let the poor windmills alone?

You can't make people want to fly the way you do, using your chosen equipment and technique. You won't attract them with a constant stream of complaints and condemnation. It's attitudes like yours that are a major impediment to bringing more PG pilots into HG, because they take one look at the garbage you spew and want nothing to do with "people like that".

If you truly want to help promote HG, and not just troll as you have in the past, then tone down the PG abuse and promote inclusion and cohesiveness among all facets of our sport, and air sports in general.

Pretty lame thread, however, frik'n awesome (red bull) video. Thanks for sharing p.c. The second vid does seem out a line. Probably should be fined, $500?

If I were a newbie wanting to take up free flight this thread would show me that p.g. is the way to go. The vid is worth 10,000 words, the thread or at least the ranting on this thread would lead me to believe h.g. is for old grumpy geezards.

But I'm a hangie and I know better. Rock on! all you free flighters and yes please respect all life, even trolls and especially old geezers that we happen to share the planet with. Sorry paraglider collapse, I don't really mean to offend. jmho.

Red bull makes awesome video's. btw, just my humble opinion again, but it looks to me like the wild life in this vid weren't harmed or horrified in any meaningful way. Maybe alarmed or frightened for 5 seconds -bfd. Nothing even remotely close to the knuckle head in pursuit - of an owl or whatever it was - with a gun or the trike flying low over elk.

Roadrunner wrote:I was meaning that if "I" were out climbing, as in (Climbing Through) say an Eagle am I OK exercising "MY" right of way. As I climb through said Bird? Or, will "I" be harassing said Bird?

if you follow standard "right-of-way" procedures, the birds will not be harassed and will probably continue to share their sky with you.

Paraglider Collapse wrote:
In case you forgot, PG's are now included in the USHPA. I'm sick of them too, but YOUR national organization has foisted them on us.

Yeah....over twenty years ago. After a couple of decades, don't you think it might be time to drop the lance and sword, and let the poor windmills alone?

You can't make people want to fly the way you do, using your chosen equipment and technique. You won't attract them with a constant stream of complaints and condemnation. It's attitudes like yours that are a major impediment to bringing more PG pilots into HG, because they take one look at the garbage you spew and want nothing to do with "people like that".

If you truly want to help promote HG, and not just troll as you have in the past, then tone down the PG abuse and promote inclusion and cohesiveness among all facets of our sport, and air sports in general.

MGF

Well said

Mike

Everyone who lives dies, yet not everyone who dies, has lived.
We take these risks not to escape life, but to prevent life escaping us.

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Roadrunner wrote:I was meaning that if "I" were out climbing, as in (Climbing Through) say an Eagle am I OK exercising "MY" right of way. As I climb through said Bird? Or, will "I" be harassing said Bird?

If you can climb through an eagle, that Predator must be even better then you say!

Recently I had two visiting foreign PPG pilots they got over a herd of Gazelles at my local site and started chasing them while flying low......I was pissed and had to tell them to cut down their flight.
I always try not to come close to the wildlife, their act was disgusting even the villagers were angry over them..the issue was settled after they had to apologize to the village people....

LoL *yawn* I hope you never harass spiders, cockroaches, or terminates that infest or enter your house either. Also, better not walk over grass, because their is a high possibility or inability of killing an ant or some bug of some sort. Even worse driving your car, have you ever seen your windshield after an evening drive?

AcTiOn!JaCksOn wrote:LoL *yawn* I hope you never harass spiders, cockroaches, or terminates that infest or enter your house either. Also, better not walk over grass, because their is a high possibility or inability of killing an ant or some bug of some sort. Even worse driving your car, have you ever seen your windshield after an evening drive?

Houmor is a difficult thing, there's a thin line between being funny and trolling. This seems to me to be trolling, am I wrong?

It seems sort of funny to me. You Guy's talk as if Harassing Wild-Life
is a Bad thing. Hell, I for one plan on doing some Harassing of Wildlife
myself. Yes, I will be guilty of doing just that. i do plan on harassing wild
Birds as I core right through them. I will be proud of that.

It is funny how I view things these days. When I am driving Balls out on driving range. I work towards improving my Drives. I look out at the end of the driving range. I see the Fence that is located at the back of the house's that
are located just on the other-side of that fence-line. i dream about driving
Golf-Balls that far, and striking a window, there fore breaking a Window.

YES, Yes I am nothing but a future Vandal in the making. You know,
I will be a low-Down Vandal, I will be scum.

Never mind that I will need to drive the Balls about 450 yards.

Back to the topic of HARASSING BIRDS. I want to harass Birds. I know
that to harass the Birds will require some serious ability to thermal on
my part. But I want to harass Birds so Bad.